Scholarly Work - Indigenous Research Initiative
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Item Land utilization on the Crow Indian reservation(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1940) Runyan, Clarence S.Item A method of measuring the comparative general level of management for farm operators on the Jocko Valley Division of the Flathead Irrigation Project(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1963) Olson, Carl EdmundItem An investigation of factors affecting the comparative general level of management for farm operators on the Jocko Valley Division of the Flathead Irrigation Project as measured by indexed alfalfa yields(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1967) Zurenko, John GeorgeItem Irrigation on the Crow Reservation / tribal and community benefits of the proposed Hardin Unit, Big Horn County, Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1964) Borton, Raymond EugeneThe purpose of this thesis was to take a look at the complex problems related to irrigation on the Crow reservation that need to be considered when making plans for the 42,600 acre Hardin Unit development made possible by the Yellowtail Dam. Two-thirds of the acreage is within the reservation. One of the main problems on the reservation is the complex ownership pattern of land due to the original allotment process and the heirship and trust status problems it has caused. This could be simplified through an expanded tribal land purchase program and the encouragement for Indian owner-operators through extensive changes in education, credit, employment, and attitudes. Greater tribal involvement in the Indian administration process would provide both employment and improve tribal organization. Those individuals who are interested in and able to operate farms and ranches should be given easier access to credit. The theses includes a very brief history of the tribe and its customs, a more detailed history of the allotment program and the multitude of problems it has brought through inheritance and the lack of interest majority of the Crow have in working the land themselves which has led to large scale leasing. Many of the Indians who owned their allotments in fee patent, sold them to non-Indians who usually bought those key tracts that contained springs and streams for stock water. This provided the non-Indian owner with control of the surrounding lands which could only be leased to the owner of the key tracts. By 1961 this had led to a situation where non-Indians used 90% of the grazing land and 94% of the cropland within the reservation. Discusses some of the abuses commonly present in the leasing process.Item Redlining in Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2006) Schumacher, Joel Brent; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Vincent H. SmithRedlining is the practice of using the attributes of geographic location of a mortgage loan as the basis for differential and typically adverse treatment of an application. This is a particularly important social problem in the home mortgage market due to benefits which have been shown to be correlated with home ownership. Minority and low income applicants may find redlining to be a major barrier to obtaining home ownership and the benefits associated with being a home owner. This thesis uses a data set collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act to examine the mortgage market in Montana. A major focus is the effects of redlining on Montana's American Indian populations many of whom face substantial housing problems. A theoretical model is developed as a framework for the empirical section of this thesis. The empirical results of this study indicate variables that directly affect the expected return of a loan are relevant to the lending decision. Other variables that do not directly affect the expected return of loan are also found to be important to the lending decision, suggesting that either economic or taste-based discrimination may be occurring. In particular, other things being equal, American Indians are approximately 8 to 10 percent more likely to have a mortgage application denied than are non-American Indians. In addition, regardless of ethnicity, applicants located on reservations are approximately 4 percent more likely to have their mortgage applications denied. These results indicate that American Indians may be subject to economic discrimination in which their ethnic profile is used as an indicator of the expected return for a mortgage loan. Further, the study provides some evidence that property rights in tribal reservations are less well defined than elsewhere, partly because of the vagaries of tribal courts under which these rights are adjudicated and enforced.Item The effects of transaction costs on Northern Plains oil unitization agreements(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2000) Seessel, Andrew Jonathan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dean Lueck.Under the rule of capture, petroleum production on reservoirs with numerous surface owners leads to significant economic waste from over-drilling and reduced total oil recovery. To mitigate the economic losses from rule of capture, private and regulatory solutions emerged to limit over-production on oil reservoirs. Among these solutions, contracts known as reservoir-wide unitization agreements lead to optimal reservoir development by allowing wells to be placed according to physical and economic conditions. While unit agreements allow for a first-best productive result, the costs of reaching contractual agreement can prohibit unit formation. This thesis examines the determinants of reservoir-wide unitization agreements. The general hypothesis is that increases in costs contracting decrease the likelihood of successful unit formation. A static well-choice model is used to analyze the factors affecting the firm's decision to join a unit. Variations on the model allow the well-choice decision to be derived under various regimes: sole ownership of the reservoir, rule of capture production, and contracting. The well-choice decision for each variation can then be used to determine the value of the reservoir for each regime. Using these values, the probability of unitization can then be linked to increases in the value of the reservoir when it is unitized and increases in the costs of negotiating agreements. Two primary predictions result: 1) as surface landholdings and subsurface physical reservoir properties become more heterogeneous, the probability of unit formation decreases, and 2) laws facilitating the unitization process increase the probability of unit formation. The primary empirical analysis uses probit regressions and case studies to examine data from oil reservoirs in the Northern Plains for the probability of unitization. The estimates indicate successful unitization occurs when surface ownership and reservoir properties are more homogenous, but also that legislation enacted to facilitate the unitization process has little impact on the formation of units.Item Human capital accumulation among Native Americans : an empirical analysis of the national assessment of educational progress(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2009) Fischer, Stefanie Jane; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Christiana Stoddard.Native Americans have low levels of human capital accumulation. In 2005, only 21% scored at the proficient level on the NAEP math test compared with 37% of all other test takers. One cause of their low human capital accumulation may be factors that commonly explain low academic performance among other minority groups within the United States, such as school quality and family background. Alternatively, Native American students may perform low academically due to factors that are unique to this population such as living on Native land or the political institutions that govern them. This paper will empirically examine Native American students' human capital accumulation decisions. Using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), I find Native American students residing on Native land score 1/4 of a standard deviation lower on the math assessment than Native American students living off Native land, with no other controls added. After controlling for other area characteristics, family background, peer effects and school resources, the effect of living on Native land is not statistically significant in explaining test scores. Family background and peer effects explain most of the variation in Native American students' human capital accumulation decision. Students who identify with the white peer group score 1/5 of a standard deviation higher than students who identify with the Native American peer group. Although legal institutions do not explain student test scores, they do appear to affect students' attendance. Students living in areas under tribal jurisdiction are 13% more likely to miss a week or more of school in a month, ceteris paribus.Item The elasticity of force : determinants of terms of trade in American Indian treaties(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1992) Wood, Scott Alan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Terry Anderson.In the nineteenth century the United States Government acquired millions of acres of land from Indian tribes. In the early part of the century the government obtained land primarily through purchase. Later, however, land was taken by force. This paper is a theoretical and empirical investigation into the role of force in causing the change in government Indian policy and the effect of force on the outcomes of negotiated treaties. A theory of force in negotiated settlements is developed and tested in the context of American Indian treaties with the U.S. government. The conclusion is that the government used its superior military strength to reduce the prices paid for Indian land.Item The impact of the tribal college movement on Native American educational attainment(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2011) Reese, Mitchell Jordan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Christiana Stoddard.This paper looks at the effects of tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) on Native American educational attainment. Using a difference-in-difference-in difference model, this paper attempts to isolate the effects of these schools on Native Americans living in states with TCUs. First, the results offer evidence that TCUs' effects are not evenly distributed across age groups or between the sexes. The findings show that these schools have significant positive effects on associate's degree attainment for older Native Americans, increasing associate's degree attainment by three percent for Native Americans 35 to 55 while not significantly increasing associate's degree attainment for 25 to 55 year olds. There is also evidence that TCUs lower bachelor's degree attainment levels for Native Americans. An additional TCU per 10,000 Native Americans per state lowers bachelor's degree attainment by 4 to 14 percent for 25 to 55 year olds and by 0 to 13 percent for 35 to 55 year olds. This negative effect appears to be disproportionately felt by Native American men. This paper also finds that TCUs do not appear to significantly increase or decrease the overall years of education for Native Americans in TCU states.Item The impact of wolves on elk hunting in Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2012) Hazen, Steven Robert; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Joseph Atwood.The controversy over gray wolves has been a continual debate throughout the American West since reintroduction in the mid 1990's. Hunter stances on this issue vary across the state since the true impact of these predators is unknown. Following wolf recovery, researchers have found game numbers decreasing in some regions while remaining steady in others. Areas with game reduction have been found to have higher populations of predators, including grizzly bear, cougars, and wolves. Recently, Montana wolves have been taken off the federal list of endangered species, allowing the state game agency to manage populations. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a method to analyze the impact of wolves on elk harvest and a proxy for hunter demand throughout three distinct regions. A system of equations derived from overall biological models was used to form the basis of the empirical models. The dependent variables that are developed assess the impact of wolves on the quantity of both elk harvest and hunter applications. The wolf variables included in the models capture the population of wolves and how their impact changes as hunting moves farther away from reintroduction areas. The time period considered is from 1999 to 2010. Data prior to 1999, when wolves were first reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park (YNP), has not been released by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP), therefore limiting this analysis. The results from the empirical estimations suggest wolves are reducing overall hunter demand in both the southwest and west central regions. In particular, the southwest region is seeing a shift in hunter applications from areas less than 25 miles to YNP to areas ranging from 25 to 50 miles. No statistically significant regional effect of wolves on hunter harvest was found in any region analyzed.